STORIES FROM THE PAST
50 years ago
A tentative opening date of summer 1973 has been set for the new $5 million dollar port of entry facility at Calexico.
The announcement came from Richard Montejano, manager of the Calexico Chamber of Commerce, who said word was received Wednesday from Robert L. Kunzig, head of General Services Administration in Washington, D.C.
In this letter Kunzig said he had endorsed the temporary facility and hopes its construction can begin very soon. State Sen. George Murphy urged immediate approval, which was passed onto President Nixon’s director of communications.
Montejano said he was then notified of the backing in Washington for the temporary gate. The facility, which has been talked about for some 20 years, had originally been set for budget consideration “around 1975,” Montejano stated. “This is the first completion date that has been available and apparently cuts 18 months to two years off the old proposal,” he said.
According to Montejano, Kunzig will urge Congress to appropriate funds for the port facility in the fiscal year 1972. If at the same time the budget is presented, buds are asked for, then the facility could be ready by summer 1973, he noted.
40 years ago
Mexican President Jose Lopez Portillo will tour Mexicali and surrounding areas Saturday, it was announced by government officials.
As part of his visit, the president is scheduled to officially open late Saturday morning a portion of the state and federal government offices located at the Mexican port of entry.
The offices, which will include immigration, health, customs and tourist departments, have been under construction for the last eight years. However, a recent visit to the facilities showed construction progressing at full steam, apparently an attempt to have most of the buildings ready by Saturday. The president is scheduled to meet with local government officials throughout the day.
30 years ago
The body of a 17-year-old Brawley youth who apparently drowned in a local canal was found this morning, and researchers are expected to continue searching today for the body of a Mexicali youth thought to have drowned in a Calexico-area canal yesterday.
The Brawley youth was last seen Sunday swimming in the treacherous waters of the Rockwood Canal just outside of the city. He was found dead in the canal early today by a county sheriff’s deputy on patrol, authorities said.
The boy has been identified as Ubaldo Perez Jimenez Jr. His body was found in the Rockwood Canal about four miles east of where he was last seen near Bryant and Mead roads, Sheriff’s Office Underwater Recovery Team leader Tony Rouhotas said.
Meanwhile, the recovery team was expected to continue searching the All American Canal today for a 17-year-old Mexicali boy who disappeared in the waters sometime Monday morning, Rouhotas added. Both boys were swimming in the canals despite a long-running safety campaign by the Imperial Irrigation District about the dangers of doing so.
The deputy who found the body of Jimenez was conduction a visual search about 3:30 a.m. after the dive team had failed to locate him, despite spending much of Sunday night and Monday morning searching in the canal, sheriff’s Sgt. Myron King said.
20 years ago
For years Mary Jane Hall was a secretary for the county Agricultural Department and any typing she ever did was on a typewriter.
It wasn’t until she neared retirement that she started using a word processor. But Hall certainly never had experience with today’s computer technology, the kind that can open a doorway to an endless realm of information through a few key strokes.
Hall, who lives in Brawley, now wants to learn how to use computers, from the Internet to basic formatting. And she had found herself a teacher — 11-yearold Noemi Peña.
A program of the Westmorland Union Elementary School District and the Westmorland senior center has brought together Hall and other seniors with youths such as Noemi so the young can share their knowledge of computers with seniors.
School officials and those who head the senior center say the program has been a success. Hall thinks so, too. “She tells me what I need to do to get started,” Hall said one recent day as she sat next to Noemi and both worked on a computer.
Hall, who wouldn’t provide her exact age, is at least 50 years older than Noemi. Despite the age difference, Hall said she is a willing student and is happy to put herself in Noemi’s hands.
Noemi said she is having a lot of fun. “I like teaching because it is fun,” said Noemi taking a break from her teaching. “You get to show them stuff that they don’t know.”
The program was a joint concept of the school district and the senior center. The program met needs for both in that the school district was looking for an innovative way to further educate students and the senior center wanted to offer a computer training program.
While the program will only continue for the duration of the summer, officials from both the school district and the senior center said they will talk about future ventures together.